


Miscommunication

by RoseBloodCat



Series: Voice Actor/Bendy!Harry [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 17:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14140761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseBloodCat/pseuds/RoseBloodCat
Summary: Harry had never realized it prior, but just because Americans and Brits both spoke English, didn’t mean their languages were exactly the same. Slang was alarmingly different between them, and there was a huge number of incidents of the miscommunication that popped up in the studio thanks to it.





	Miscommunication

Harry had been working at Sillyvision Studios for almost three months now, and he was fairly sure he knew how things worked there. Including the unspoken employee “traditions”, such as dining out after a deadline.

Harry had never thought of himself as a closed-off person, but it had never dawned on him just how _little_ he had interacted with people outside of Ron, Hermione, and his dorm mates until suddenly _they weren’t there._ But he’d found he enjoyed going out with his coworkers for lunch and celebratory dinners. Though, they also did a fine job of highlighting just how _out of place_ Harry was at times.

He had never realized it prior, but just because Americans and Brits both spoke English, didn’t mean their languages were exactly the same. Slang was alarmingly different between them, and there was a huge number of incidents of the miscommunication that popped up in the studio thanks to it.

The “Diner Incident”, as his coworkers had dubbed it, was one of Harry’s more _embarrassing_ social fails in the era.

It had started innocently enough, Wally had invited him to join a few of the guys for lunch at a diner a block or two away from the studio on a particularly cold, grey winter day. Harry was among those who enjoyed having a bit of “downtime” in his work day and gladly agreed to tag along.

Besides, the chance to go _anywhere_ despite the miserable weather sounded like a wonderful idea to him. (he had _thought_ he knew what isolation was like, but Cabin fever was a force to be reckoned with. He never thought he’d have a day where he was actually _happy_ to go into work)

Their lunch group hadn’t been very large, consisting only of Wally, Sammy, Shawn, Henry and himself, as few others were willing to brave the cold, even for a change of pace. Or to escape the combined stress of their various deadlines that had been messed with thanks to the weather and the studio filing work taxes that month.

The diner had never been very large, but still a comfortable change of pace compared to the studio Cafeteria. Their waiter, a man who looked around Sammy’s age, and waitress, a girl around Harry's age (if he had to guess), led them to some comfortable booths near that back that gave them room to all sit together.

Harry was settled next to Shawn, having ordered a simple cup of tea and a sandwich for his own lunch.

“So, how you holdin’ up, ‘Arry? First time ‘aving to deal with Cabin Fever season, innit?” Harry gave an idle shrug.

“I’m doing alright, mate. Mrs. Monroe has been having a bit of trouble taking care of the apartments, so I’ve been lendin’ a hand whenever she needs it.” Henry nodded at that, a smile curving his face.

“Good on you. She seems like a good woman, I’m glad you're putting the effort in to help her out.” Harry gave a lopsided smile, adding a bit of sugar to his tea.

“Kinda have to, I wouldn't have a place to stay without her.” The others chuckled at his comment, and their conversations falling into work and home for the others and any issues they felt needed to be addressed, even if it was only informally and with each other. (Harry was sure he could see Henry making notes of things to talk with Joey about since he seemed to be the only one Joey would really listen too)

Their topics had only tapered when their food had arrived. Their server popped back often, checking in on how they were enjoying their meals, and if they needed refills for their drink. For Harry, the girl was getting a bit annoying with the way she seemed to hover near their table, but he was too polite to actually say anything about it.

When they had finished, there was a short debate about only one of them paying or if they would pay for their meals separately. In the end, they'd decided to pay separate, and Harry flagged down their servers.

“You need anything green-eyes?” Harry twitched at the name, not happy with the girl he barely knew calling him by a nickname. He forced a smile on his face.

“Yes, we're ready to pay for our meals.”

“Oh, you paying separately?” she asked, eyes fluttering slightly. Harry wondered if she had gotten a bit of dust in her eyes. He saw the waiter rolling his eyes as he collected the pay from the rest of the table.

“That’s right.” Her face brightened for some reason and she leaned closer, unknowingly making Harry twitch at the invasion of space.

“Cash or check, green-eyes?” He leaned back slightly, confused by her tone.

“Cash, I think.” Harry turned away from her, pulling out his wallet and flipping through the cash he had on hand. “Ah, here we are, this should cover it, along with the tip.”

He heard Wally and Shawn snickering, and looked up in confusion after pulling out the amount needed. The others looked like they were holding back laughter, even the waiter, and their waitress looked a bit like she’d just swallowed a lemon. Then she gave a forced smile, took the money from him, and chirped in a tense and slightly aggravated tone, “Alright, I’ll take care of that!”

Harry stared after the servers in confusion and they retreated to the registers, idly noting that the manager was standing there giving the waitress a Look for some reason and looked back at his coworkers.

“Was it something I said?” Shawn snorted loudly, then he and Wally dissolved into laughter. Henry had a hand pressed over his mouth, and Sammy was turned away from him with his shoulders shaking slightly.

“What?! What’s so funny?” Snickering, Henry was the first to speak, a large smile on his face.

“I’ll tell you once we get back to the Studio, Harry. It’s a little complicated to explain here.” Shawn finally got his breathing under control and clapped Harry’s shoulder.

“Right, wouldn’t want to embarrass our poor Waitress anymore than needed.” He chuckled. Harry frowned, but decided to let it go.

Once they got back, Henry explained that the girl had been _flirting_ with him when she used the nicknames. Harry, in turn, explained that, in Britain, nicknames were considered personal, and no one used them unless they were very close to each other or if they had that person’s permission.

But what left Harry embarrassed about the whole thing was that the phrase “cash or check?” was actually a way to ask “kiss now or later?” while still being subtle. Harry was horrendously embarrassed upon learning that, more so since he _hadn’t noticed._ The entire studio thought it was hilarious.

Needless to say, Harry had no intentions of returning to the restaurant anytime soon.


End file.
